The Pros And Cons Of Drug Offenders

Getting Ghost, an ethnographic research carried out by Luke Bergmann in 2000, shows how culture shapes and gives meaning to the lives of the adolescent African American males in inner city Detroit. Many African Americans had migrated to Detroit in the 1920s at the promise of employment in the automotive industry, however, after the industry began to dissolve in the 1970s, Detroit’s inner-city population began to be hit with a strong economic downfall (Background Sheet 2014,1). Subsequently, drug dealing in Detroit became widespread in the 1970s and 1980s, leading to a strong drug and convict culture which has affected many of the youth over multiple generations (Background Sheet 2014,1). A common practise in the African American population

Prison is a dark, lonely and terrible place. A majority of people incarcerated are people of color. Mass incarceration is mainly concentrated on racial and ethnic minorities. In A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines, it is shown that no matter your background or your story, you will still be targeted because of the color of your skin. Brown assures that The United States has only five percent of the world’s population, but twenty five of the world’s prison population.

What the system does not recognise is the factors which lead them to offending to begin with, those that influenced their lives and the memories that go with those experiences they had before arrest. As Dude says, “early as I can remember my daddy was selling dope. My brothers, my sisters, mother. They all taught me the game. And I learned the game from the hood where my daddy was living...

1. Title of Research Topic - Juvenile substance abuse: A comparison of effectiveness and recidivism rates among offenders within drug-court programs and those sentenced to traditional sentencing. 2. Introduction of Topic – The late 20th century witnessed an alarming increase in substance abuse in the United States, and today, it still continues to rage on, coupled with a continuously expanding inmate population. Therefore, in order to battle this disastrous obstacle, the first ever drug court was established in Miami-Dade County, Florida in 1989.

In 1989, officials in Miami-Dade County, Florida established the nation’s first drug court. This special court was designed to bring drug treatment more fully into the criminal justice system, treating offenders with a history of drug abuse for their addiction, while simultaneously ensuring supervision, and sanctions when needed, from the courts. The movement for an alternative court to sentence drug offenders emerged from the rapidly evolving reality that the nation’s decision to address drug abuse through law enforcement mechanisms would continue to pose significant challenges for the criminal court system. In 2004, 53% of persons in state prison were identified with a drug dependence or abuse problem, but only 15% were receiving professional

The idea behind these program was to help treat the offenders for their substance abuse disorders while still holding them accountable for the crime that they had committed (Lutze & Wormer, 2013). Many studies have been conducted in order to assess the effectiveness of drug court programs across the country. In a qualitative study done by Gallagher 100 participants of the drug court program were examined. This study found that of the drug court participants, seventy-nine percent were not rearrested in the follow-up period. Twenty-one percent of those participants were rearrested (Gallagher, 2014).

The initial thinking behind the creation of minimum mandatory sentences was created by congress to aim in the capture and imprisonment of high level drug traffickers, and deter others from entering into drug trafficking or using illegal substances, which would create a safer society. However, the nation prison has been expanded with low level street drug dealers, and the accessibility to illegal drugs is more obtainable then before the enactment of the mandatory sentencing act. In fact, the number of drug offenders in federal prisons has increased 21 times since 1980. Contrary to what congress has believed in the past about the dangers of crack cocaine compared to that in powder form has been proven to be untrue, but little has been done to reduce the number of prisons affected by that belief.

Determining this, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has also developed a comprehensive drug abuse treatment strategy for those incarcerated inmates who were affected by illegal drug activities. Drug education programs, and comprehensive drug abuse counseling is offered to nearly all incarcerated inmates. While the number directly related illegal drug activity to inmate incarceration may be approximately fifty-one percent, some form of illegal drug activity may eventually affect nearly all

As of September 26, 2015, there is a total of 93,821 inmates in prison for drug offenses, which is equivalent to 48.4 percent of the prison population. The use of illegal narcotics has been an issue within the country for decades; however, is incarceration the way to solve this problem? I think not. During the late 1960’s, poverty was a substantial issue within urban cities and secluded rural areas. On the other hand, recreational drug usage promoted by fashionable young, white Americans as a symbol of social upheaval and youthful rebellion coincided with the deprivation within many of these areas.

A country where all drugs are legalized can be the perfect economic and social compromise. Ultimately, it contains the both of best worlds as it would allow for the economy to flourish due to the infusion of new income from tax reforms. Drug liberalization is the next step for the United States for us to become a new country with limited violence less drug abuse and a better prison system. Drug liberalization needs to happen and happen fast for the progression of the people as a civilization. Portugal in 2001 decided to take the initiative to decriminalize all drugs within the country.

Pfaff mentions the prison population is full of drug crimes while other people shouldn't be there. The prisons population would reduce if there wasn’t a lot of a drug crimes offender there. According to Lock In “war and drugs have fuelled tougher responses to all sorts of crimes, including those not related to drug use or drug trafficking, this indirect effect could matter even if the direct impact of war is less than believed” (Pfaff,2017, P22). Most people sell drugs to earn an income because there is no employment in their neighborhoods. A person who is on probation has to sell drug because that is the only job available to them at the moment.

Only 18.3% (337,882) were for the sale or manufacture of a drug” (p. 23). Therefore, the individuals who are likely to enter the already overcrowded prisons may be users and the actual not distributors themselves. Thus, prison space that is intended to be reserved for murders and sexual predators is instead being occupied by substance

In his article, “Toward a Policy on Drugs,” Elliot Currie discusses “the magnitude and severity of our drug crisis” (para. 21), and how “no other country has anything resembling the American drug problem” (para. 21). The best way to describe America’s drug problem is that it is a hole continuously digs itself deeper. America’s drug issues were likely comparable to other country’s at one point in time, but today it can be blamed on the “street cultures” (para. 21) that continue to use and spread the use of illegal drugs. These street cultures transcend the common stereotype of drug users, such as low income communities in cities or welfare recipients, and can be found in every economic class and location. They are groups of people who have

The continuous use of narcotics results in addiction, and financial struggles due to the costly upkeep. “Financial problems are one of the major side effects of drug and substance abuse” (Buaggett, 2015). Addicts cannot adequately take an active role in the economic activities, as the use of drugs inhibits the abilities of the users to earn a daily living. Due to the instability of finances, this would result in selling personal belongings to continue funding the substance of choice, and depending on the addicts living situation, this could lead to losing their house or being removed from their current housing. While being under the influence, an addicts voice of reason is jeopardized, resulting in criminal activities which raise the chances of being apprehended by the law enforcers, as well as, heavy fines are imposed.

The current system that incarcerates people over and over is unsustainable and does not lower the crime rate nor encourage prisoner reformation. When non-violent, first time offenders are incarcerated alongside violent repeat offenders, their chance of recidivating can be drastically altered by their experience in prison. Alternative sentencing for non-violent drug offenders could alleviate this problem, but many current laws hinder many possible solutions. Recently lawmakers have made attempts to lower the recidivism rates in America, for example the Second Chance Act helps aid prisoners returning into society after incarceration. The act allows states to appropriate money to communities to help provide services such as education, drug treatment programs, mental health programs, job corps services, and others to aid in offenders returning to society after incarceration (Conyers, 2013).